The Hitchhiker
by Winter.Petals
Summary: AU. A Death Note twist to the urban legend 'The Vanishing Hitchhiker'. Tis my Halloween gift to you. Please read and review! Chu xx


II

The Hitch-hiker by Phantomhive-Faerie

Light Yagami sighed as he relaxed into the cool, leather seats and let the warmth emitting from the heater wash over him, chasing away the chill from outside. The weather was fitting for Halloween; rainy, windy, cold and judging from the time between the lightning and the thunder, a storm was on its way. If he'd listened to his mother and come home when he finished his classes, then he would have missed the storm entirely, but he chose to stay behind to work on an assignment and now, he would have to drive home in the dark. Not his smartest of moments.

Flicking his damp, auburn hair out of his eyes, Light grabbed hold of the steering wheel and checked the map lying on the seat beside him. He wasn't going to risk the motorway tonight, he knew it'd be jam packed with traffic, instead, he was taking the road that cut through the woods. It was all very cliché for Light's liking, but it was the quickest route home and right now, that's all he cared about. Taking one last glance at the map, he set off on his journey home.

It was very quiet, eerily so in fact and Light couldn't help but think of all the horror movies he'd watched in his life. Glancing in his rear-view mirror, he briefly checked the backseat for a psychopath with an axe and, finding none, grinned at himself for even thinking it. Following the instructions his classmate, James Tate, had written on the map, Light turned off onto a dirt road leading deep into the woods.

After fifteen minutes of silence, Light turned on the radio flicking through the stations until he found one that wasn't just static. The song was one he was unfamiliar with, a soothing, ethereal, deep voice singing a melody that, to Light, screamed of loneliness and sadness. An unusual feeling settled in the pit of his stomach as he listened to the ghostly music.

As time went on, the song drew to a close and Light was glad. It wasn't that the song wasn't good, it was the fact that it was starting to make him feel sad and Light Yagami never felt sad thank you very much. Silence once again filled the car and Light awaited the next song, only to find that the previous one was starting up again. Frowning, Light switched the radio station over and was met with the same, eerie song. He switched the radio off and stared at it in confusion. That was certainly weird.

Looking back out to the road, Light gasped and swerved his car, narrowly avoiding hitting a man who stood in the middle of the muddy road. Stopping, Light got out of his Toyota Prius and stared at the idiot.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? Are you trying to get yourself kill.." Light cut off as he stared at the man.

He looked a few years older than Light and had skin so pale it would have fitted a corpse better than a living person. His eyes held a sadness like Light had never seen and his messy black hair clung to his face in a tangled, wet mess. The white shirt he was wearing had gone see-through with the rain and clung to his bony body and at the bottom of his baggy jeans, Light could see the mad wasn't wearing shoes.

Though his image was quite frightening, that wasn't what had stopped Light. The man was singing as he stared up at the sky, the same sad, ethereal song that was on the radio in the same ghostly voice.

_Okay, this is more than a little weird. _Light thought as he hesitated with the idea of getting back into the safety of his car and driving away or asking the man if he needed help. Deciding on the latter, he cautiously approached him.

"Um, excuse me sir, are you alright?" Light was glad that his voice didn't break, despite the fear that was building up inside of him.

The man stopped singing and looked Light straight in the eyes, causing the younger boy to visibly shiver. The man's eyes were pitch black. Shoving his hands into his pockets he smiled desperately at Light before opening his mouth to speak.

"Could you give me a ride home?"

Light gritted his teeth at the thought of those muddy feet in his new car, but nodded his head regardless. "Sure, hop in."

The stranger did as he was told, knocking the map onto the floor and sitting in a hunched crouch. "Thank you."

Shivering, Light turned the heat on full and turned to look at the man beside him. "Do you need a doctor or anything?"

"No, I just need to get home, it's in that direction." He inclined his head in the direction Light was heading.

'_Well, at least it's not out of my way.' _Light set off down the road again, trying not to think too much about his situation, or the muddy feet on his expensive, leather seats.

"So, what's your name?" he knew it probably wasn't a good idea to ask questions, but Light couldn't bear the silence… it was too creepy.

"My name is L Lawliet, you may call me L." the monotone voice sent shivers down Lights spine.

"Well, I'm Light Yagami." He cleared his throat. "If you don't mind my asking, L, what were you doing there in the middle of the road, you could have been killed you know?"

L squeezed his legs against his chest and gazed out of the window. After several minutes of silence, it was clear to Light that he wasn't getting an answer. Pushing the accelerator a little more, Light drove faster, even more eager to get home. His father would probably laugh when Light told him and his mother would lecture him about 'not picking up strangers' and Light would happily take it all in, just glad to be home alive. He'd heard stories of this kind of thing. Driving alone at night and picking up a hitch-hiker, then finding out that the hitch-hiker is in fact some escaped psycho and before you know it, you're dead. Still, there was something about L that Light couldn't work out, something that made it impossible to leave him standing there.

"My house is just down there." L pointed at a turn off and Light followed the directions, whistling to himself as he pulled up in front of a large mansion.

"This is a nice place you have." Light turned to face L and blinked in surprise to find the seat beside him empty. He looked outside the window again and saw no sign of him.

Ignoring the voice inside that was telling him to forget it and go home, Light got out of the car and walked toward the large oak front door. He pressed the doorbell and waited, wrapping his arms around himself to keep in some warmth. Before he knew it, he was face to face with a kind looking old man.

"Can I help you?"

"Um, yes actually. I've just picked up a guy, he was standing in the middle of the road and asked me to bring him home. He said that he lived here, but now I can't seem to find him. He said his name was L Lawliet, do you know him?" Light realized that he probably sounded like a complete idiot, but he couldn't find it in himself to care right now.

The old man looked at him, shocked for a moment, then sad. "I'm sorry, but the person you're talking about died over ten years ago now. He was murdered in the woods. I must say, you're not the first person to claim you've picked him up. It's happened every year since his death."

Light looked disbelieving for a few seconds, before the look changed into one of horror. He could feel the colour leaving his face. The old man shut the door and Light slowly walked back to his car. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. This had to have been a Halloween joke or something! Slamming the car door shut, Light looked to the side and saw the seat beside him completely clean, not mud or water. Still, the map lay on the floor.

He shakily started up the car and began the drive home. He knew he wouldn't forget this night in a hurry and no one would believe him if he ever told them. No, this would have to remain a secret.

'_Damn,' _Light thought as he turned the heater on once more. _'He was kind of cute too, if you got past all the creepiness.'_

Turning on the radio, Light was relieved to find it working properly once more and switched the channel to one that was playing Halloween music for the rest of the night. "Happy Halloween L."

~The End~

**Boo! Scared you didn't I? Anyway, this fic is a Halloween gift to all you amazing Death Note fans out there. I know it's a little rushed and suckish, but I wanted to get it done fairly quickly while the house was quiet. Hope at least one person enjoyed it and I do plan to write a better Death Note fic with an L ghost… only set in a house =3 Can anyone guess what the song L was singing was? Free cookie to anyone who does! I did want to add a little yaoi to this fic…. But I couldn't fit it anywhere. Please review and have a Happy Halloween everyone! Chu ~ Phantomhive-Faerie~**


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